Ricochet Reaches Out for Target's Bunker
Published January 10, 2011
The very first moment I discovered Ricochet the SURfice Dog, this beautiful three-year-old Golden Retriever captured my heart.
Ricochet is famous for having a heart as big as all outdoors since she gives of herself unconditionally in order to help raise awareness and funds for both animal and human causes. Just a few months ago, I shared an update about what she was doing.
In recognition of her tireless work and passion for helping animals and people, on January 7, 2010, Ricochet was notified that she was one of the five dogs nominated for the "Most Heroic Dog of 2010" award by USAToday.com. Folks were invited to vote for their favorite dog in order to select a winner. Ricochet reached out to her fans to support her with their votes.
But even though she was totally thrilled with her nomination and the response from her fans, after she read about Target, one of her canine competitors, she started feeling uncomfortable and awkward, "like something was not right," and posted this message on her website to folks intending to vote for her to instead turn their votes into voices in support of Target's cause, and to help raise funds for this project.
She wrote, "Target deserves this title... she IS this title!"
Target really is indeed a true hero. On February 11, 2010, when a suicide bomber walked into a Border Patrol compound, Target and two other stray dogs, sensing something was amiss, attacked the bomber, saving the lives of many soldiers in Afghanistan that night.
Miraculously, in spite of the bombing, Target survived. Adopting Target, SGT Terry Young took her back with him to the United States to join his family in Arizona. Read more about Target by visiting targetsbunker.org.
But one Friday afternoon, Target got out of her yard, picked up and brought to a shelter, where she was tragically euthanized by mistake by the following Monday.
Ricochet asked Target's dad, SGT Terry Young, what she could do to celebrate Target's life and help awareness for Target's cause, Target's Bunker, a no-kill shelter founded by Target's family.
So together with one of her co-nominees, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, Ricochet turned her votes into "voices for Target" to raise funds and awareness for Target's Bunker, a project the family has just started. They have already raised over $580 -- since Sunday.
For Ricochet and Sparkles, their nominations are not about who votes for them. Instead it is about the voice they are creating to help Target. And even if you cannot donate, your voices are urgently needed to help get the word out about this campaign.
For more information about this project, please visit Ricochet's page, here.
How were you moved by this story? Share your thoughts in a comment.
Shortly after retiring as a social worker and psychotherapist, I discovered my "writer's voice"…
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Comments (5)
Thank you Jo for writing this. Target's story is so tragic and needs to be told to raise awareness. Yes, Target should not have been outside unsupervised and she should have been microchipped. BUT ACCIDENTS HAPPEN!! My questions are wy did the neighbor take her to a shelter instead of returning her...he knew who she was. Also, why was a dog euthanized after only being at said shelter for 2 days?? OK, she was killed by mistake, but let's face it, you are KILLING an animal. You can't fix it if you make a mistake. Where were the double and triple checks by shelter workers? Where was management? Why was this person euthanizing animals instead of a licensed vet or vet tech?? I put more responsibility for this tragedy on the shelter rather than Target's family.
That being said, major KUDOS to Ricochet and Sparkles for raising awareness of Target's story. They are true heroes also. :)
I wondered why they had not microchipped Target. All shelters and vet's offices are suppose to scan for a chip if a dog is picked up or brought in as a found pet. It has saved many an animal from Target's fate.
Oh, how sad! Thank you for the information on Target.
Thanks for helping us raise awareness of this campaign "turning votes into voices" for Target's Bunker in memory of Target. We've now raised almost $1000 in the last two days, and hope to raise more. To make a tax deductible donation, go to http://www.surfdogricochet.com/Target.htm
Surf Dog Ricochet
The story of this wonderful dog was on Oprah last week. I was very toouched by the story and very sad at the outcome. One more example of why we should never let our dogs out unsupervised, or confined to a fenced yard.